Parents involved in college admission scandal robbed kids of life lessons

By Nicole Villalpando nvillalpando@statesman.com

Tuesday

Mar 12, 2019 at 1:09 PMMar 12, 2019 at 1:16 PM

COMMENTARY — We all want our kids to get into their first choice of college, right? We might have even said, “We would do anything to get our kid into that school!”

Anything, except break the law.

Tuesday came the news that parents paid a college admissions consultant $25 million to bribe coaches and administrators at several top schools including the University of Texas to label their child an athlete to improve their child’s chance to get into a school.

At my house and at the house of many of my mom friends, we’ve been in full college admissions mode all year. And, yes, there was heartache when my kid didn’t get into his first choice. He already had psychologically moved in, picked out his dorm room and everything. It was devastating for about a half a week. Then some other schools came calling and different opportunities arrived. For a kid who has not had to struggle academically, it was a first lesson that sometimes you work really, really hard and sometimes you still don’t get what you want.

The college admissions process is full of life lessons, lessons that the parents involved in the scandal might not have afforded their children.

Lessons like:

You can survive disappointment.Not everything will come easy to you all the time.Just because your mother said you are special or wonderful doesn’t make you special.Not everyone gets a trophy or the college at the top of their list.Your parents can’t do everything for you.Sometimes life isn’t fair.

Instead, they sent their children these messages:

You aren’t good enough to get into that school without my help.You don’t have to work hard to get what you want.Your parents will fix any problem you have.

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